Railway-switch.



F. TOLBERT.

RAILWAY SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 15, 1912.

Patented May 19, 1914.

INVENTOR.

Fred To! Fae-r 1: M

A TTORNE Y.

WITNESSES iwg/izz.

%TATES PATENT Enron.

FRED TGLBERT, OF FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS, ASSIGNSR OF ONE-HALE T0 HORACE COLLIER, OF FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS. i

RAILVIAY-SVIITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed l'uly 15 1912. Serial No. 709,378.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Faun Tonenn'r, a citizen 0f the United States, and a resident of Fort Smith county of Sebastian, and State of Arkansas, have invented a certain useful Railway-Switch; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

The object of this invention is to provide an improved construction in railways for enabling a switch to be thrown by some means on a passing car.

The chief feature of the invention con.- sists in the combination. with a switch. of a double spring for resisting its movement in either direction, means for throwing the switch having a cam or wedge-shape portion, and a locking means or ping actuated by aspring or gravity for locking the switch throwing means in its two positions and against the action of the springs of the switch.

The nature of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims:

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a section of railway at a switch. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the switch throwing or holding mechanism with parts removed and parts broken away. Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 1 is a vertical section on the line 4 a of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a vertical section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a plan view of a portion of the switch and the double springs for holding it, parts being broken away.

The drawings herein show in detail, a railway having cross ties 10, main track rails 11 and switching rails 12 and 13 leading from one main track rail 11 at an angle therefrom. A rail 1% is pivoted to one main track rail 11 and is movable for de fleeting the car wheels in the usual way. 15 is a guard rail.

A. switch throwing rod 20 is located in a boX 21 in the bed of the railway and it extends longitudinally thereof, said rod passing transversely through a hole in the switch point 14 and having a spring 22 around the rod and on each side of the switch and held in place by nuts 23 on said rod 20, so that as the rod is shifted longitudinally of its length, it will act through one or the other of said springs to throw the switch and will yieldingly hold the switch when thrown. One end of the rod 20 is connected with a cran'k25 which 13 secured on the end of a end of the casing 21 and having bearings at the other end in a casing 28 located some distance in advance of the switch. The shaft 26 is actuated by an upwardly extending crank arm 30 projecting through the top of the box or casing 28 in position to be. engaged or thr wn one way or the other by means on a car, not shown. The shaft 26 also has bearings 31 projecting down from the top of the box 28, see Fig. 3. Hence, when the crank arm 30 is thrown to one limit of its movement, it will open the switch and when thrown to the other limit of its movement, it will close the switch.

An automatically releasable stop or hold ing means is provided for holding the shaft 26' and, therefore, the switch throwing means in either of its two actuated positions and yet not interfere with the operation and throw of the crank arm 30 by means of a car. This looking or holding means is shown in Fig. land consists of an upwardly tapering projection 35 from the shaft 26 in position to be engaged by the lower beveled end of a stop block or bolt 36 operating vertically in a casing 37 secured to the top of the box 20. The upper end of the locking block 36 is widened or shouldered so that it cannot escape from the casing 37 because of the contracted opening in the lower endof said casing 27 through which the block 36 projects. This block 36 will move downward by gravity into looking position so as to engage either one side or the other of the projection 35 on the shaft and hold said shaft from any movement not caused by forcible actuation of the crank arm 30. In order to make the action of the locking block, however, more positive than the result from gravity alone, a spiral spring 38 is located in said casing 3'? in position to press down on said locking block. lChe upper end of the spring 38 is held down by a movable plate 39 which closes the upper end of the casing 37 and renders the same accessible. Therefore, when the crank arm 30 is thrown to its left-hand limit of movement, as shown in Fig. 4, the beveled surfaces of the parts 35 and'36 will cause the block 36 to be pushed upwardly until the shaft is actuated and then it will drop down Fatentod May is, rat a.

shaft 26 passing through a bearing 27 in one 7 by gravity and the spring action. If the crank arm be thrown to the right, the projection again would push up the locking block 36 and when the shaft 26 was thrown to its other position, the locking block 36 would again move downward into locking position and hold the shaft 26 in one or the otl er of its actuated positions against the action of the springs 22. Therefore, the springs 22 cooperate with the shaft 26, the project-ion 35 holding the block 36 and other parts to make the device operate. The roller a0 on the upper end of the crank arm .30 tends to reduce the friction with the switch throwing mechanism on the car. The crank arms 25 and 30 are in the form of solid wrenches which slip over squared portions on the shaft 26 and are held in place by nuts, as shown in Fig. 8.

While the springs 22 are shown herein for yieldingly actuating the switch point, still the invention is not necessarily limited to such arrangement of springs, as any arrangement of the means for transmitting power from the crank arm 30 to the s itch point which is capable of yielding to some extent, meets the requirements of the invention, although the arrangement of the spring shown is a desirable one.

I claim as my invention:

1. A switch throwing mechanism including a rod extending loosely through the switch, a yielding means mounted on said rod on each side of said switch and in position to yieldingly throw said switch when the rod is moved in one direction or the other, a shaft for actuating said rod which has a tapering projection on the upper side thereof, a casing above said projection, a locking block vertically movable in said casing with the small end tapered so as to engage either side of the projection from said'shaft as it is oscillated, and means for actuating the shaft.

2. A railway switch throwing mechanism including an oscillatory shaft mounted in a railway and having a tapering projection extending radially therefrom, a fixed casing with an opening in it, a locking block in said casing and projecting through said opening with a tapering end adapted to engage the opposite sides of said projection from the shaft alternately as the shaft is oscillated, a spring in said casing tending to force said locking block toward the shaft, means for oscillating the shaft, and yielding means for transmitting power from said shaft to the switch for throwing it.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto atlixed my signature in the presence of the witnesses herein named.

FRED TOLBERT.

\Vitnesses J. PERSON, F. P. LIEBER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Gommissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G. 

